Medibank trialling dialysis at home

Medibank is trialling the inclusion of haemodialysis services as part of the Medibank at Home offering. For our eligible members with chronic kidney disease – if your treating doctor considers this appropriate for you and location permitting – dialysis at home gives you the choice and convenience of nurse-delivered haemodialysis in the comfort and familiar surroundings of your own property.

What is haemodialysis?

Haemodialysis uses an artificial kidney machine (or ‘dialysis machine’) to receive blood from a patient, put it through a dialyser to remove unwanted waste and then pump it back to the patient. The dialyser cleans the patient’s blood, like a healthy kidney would. Medibank funds the service, which a provider delivers, of home-based haemodialysis. However, if you need additional treatment, such as diagnostic tests or a follow-up with your specialist, there may be some out-of-pocket expenses. As with any treatment, it’s best to call us on 1800 065 769 first to find out what is included in your cover.    

How Dialysis at Home works

Typically, people who require haemodialysis spend an average of four to five hours in hospital for dialysis treatment, three to four times each week. It’s not difficult to imagine the burden this puts on individuals and their carers.     

One of these individuals is Jane, a 52-year-old woman who lives with her husband and two teenage children. Jane previously worked as an IT project manager for many years but has recently been forced to leave the workforce due to several health issues.

Until recently, Jane required dialysis three times a week at the local hospital, with each dialysis session taking five hours. Her husband had been taking Jane to and from the hospital as she can no longer drive.

Jane enrolled in the Medibank Dialysis at Home program in October 2018. “It has all gone really smoothly, I have all the equipment here, and three times a week, a nurse comes, and we do the dialysis. It is so much easier; if I’m having a bad day, I don’t even need to get dressed,” she says. “The best thing for me is that I’m here for my kids when they get home from school, so I know what’s going on with them, what sort of day they’ve had. The added bonus is that my husband doesn’t have to ferry me about all over the place, I just hated the disruption, and I know it had to be that way, but now, being treated at home, it really helps.”

Where to from here?

Medibank is currently evaluating the Dialysis at Home trial. In the meantime, this trial gives eligible members more choice. It will also support achieving a more sustainable healthcare system. You can find out more about how Medibank at Home’s haemodialysis trial works and where the trial is delivered via the website.

*The member's name has been changed